Silt, Denver Cereal Volume 8

by Claudia Hall Christian

  “Oh?” Sam shifted forward. Aden and Jacob took the cue. Sam would handle whatever this man had to say.

  “Yeah.” The man nodded.

  “Any idea what?” Sam asked.

  “Sure,” the man said. “My buddy’s in the middle of it. He says if we don’t get involved, we’ll get screwed, and who cares if those rich kids get screwed, you know?”

  “Would you like to tell us?” Sam asked.

  “Can I see my son?” the man asked.

  “Daughter,” Sam corrected.

  “Right, my daughter,” the man said.

  “I think it’s up to her mom,” Sam said.

  “She won’t mind,” the man said. “She’s always bugging me to see . . . What’s his name now?”

  “Her name is Wanda,” Jacob said.

  “Wanda.” The man smiled. “That was my grandmother’s name.”

  “Why don’t we go inside and call her?” Sam asked.

  The man looked like someone had handed him an ice cream cone.

  “Did I mention my name?” the man asked.

  “Nope,” Aden said.

  “I’m not housebroke,” the man said. “That’s what the ex used to say. Anyway, I’m Erik Le Monte.”

  He held out a beefy hand and Sam shook it. Jacob nodded to the house, and the men started across the field. Aden and Jacob fell behind Sam and Erik.

  “I think we can manage the farm,” Aden said.

  Jacob turned to look at him.

  “There’s enough land with the adjoining farms to start the project,” Aden said. “We can create a farming zone like they have in Boulder, or just keep the farms the way they are. By the time the city is up and running, our kids will be grown.”

  Jacob stopped walking to turn and look at Aden.

  “Don’t give up, Jake,” Aden said. “That’s what I’m saying. It was only a few angry people. The rest of Lipson just don’t know what to do. You have to lead the way.”

  Jacob nodded and they went into the house.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Saturday morning—10:00 a.m.

  “It’s just this way,” MJ said.

  He pointed down a long hallway in the basement of a building at Buckley Air Force Base. Gracie had never been anywhere near the building. MJ used his ID card and thumbprint to get into this hallway. That was after they had gone through a body scanner and given their IDs to the building guard. When she saw the nameplate on the door, she groaned.

  “You’re on the Fey Team?” Gracie said, in a terse whisper. “You don’t think you could have told me? Shit. Shit. Shit. I can’t believe you got me into this.”

  Gracie turned to leave, but Honey was rolling behind her. She sneered at Honey.

  “You didn’t ask.” MJ opened the door.

  The door opened to a small office. The sergeant at the desk smiled at MJ. The young man looked like he was trying to swallow a laugh.

  “This is Dusty,” MJ said. “He goes by Sergeant Dusty.”

  “Ma’am,” Sergeant Dusty said. “They are waiting for you. Do you want to wait with me, Honey, or do you want to go in?”

  “Why would she wait with you?” MJ asked.

  “Because this is military business,” Sergeant Dusty said.

  “It’s probably better that I go,” Honey said.

  “Suite yourself,” Sergeant Dusty said.

  He got up from his desk and opened the door behind him. From where they stood, they could see a long conference table, a comfortable seating area, and a wide mahogany desk near the windows. There were two people standing and one person sitting behind the desk. The bright light from the windows made the people into dark silhouettes.

  “Please.” Sergeant Dusty gestured for them to go inside.

  “You know I . . .” Gracie said.

  “Oh no you don’t,” Honey said. “You started this; in you go.”

  Gracie turned in place. Moving further into the room, she could make out the people behind the woman at the desk. A dark-haired man who looked like an accountant stood at her right hand. His fatigues insignia tab indicated that he was a captain in Special Forces. His assignment patch was a large black Vivaldi “F.” The man on the woman’s left was Gracie’s superior officer. Gracie groaned.

  “Please come in,” the woman at the desk said.

  Gracie looked at her for the first time. She was in her mid-thirties. She had a pleasant kind of face that looked like it was mostly used for smiling. Her short brown hair stuck straight up in a military cut. Oddly, her fatigues insignia tab indicated she too was in Special Forces, a lieutenant colonel. Gracie popped to attention next to MJ.

  “I’m Lieutenant Colonel Hargreaves,” the woman said. “This is Captain Mac Clenaghan.”

  MJ bristled at the formality in his superior’s voice. Even though he knew this formal ruse was designed to cut through bullshit, he found the whole thing unnerving.

  “I believe you’ve met Captain Handon?” the woman asked.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Gracie said.

  “Sir,” Captain Mac Clenaghan said. “You will address the lieutenant colonel as sir.”

  “As you may have noted, we are a highly classified intelligence team,” the lieutenant colonel said. “In order to maintain the classified nature of our work, personal disruptions require our immediate attention.”

  “Yes, sir,” Gracie said.

  “At ease,” the lieutenant colonel said.

  “You may be seated,” Captain Mac Clenaghan said.

  Gracie and MJ sat down in the chairs in front of the desk. Honey rolled around to MJ’s side. He glanced at her and she smiled.

  “Hi, Honey,” the lieutenant colonel said.

  “Alex,” Honey said.

  “Sergeant Scully?” the lieutenant colonel said. “Can we get directly to the point?”

  “Gracie and I went out for a while before I was injured,” MJ said. “I think you’ll remember that I went from Walter Reed to Mologne House and was assigned from there.”

  “I remember,” the lieutenant colonel said.

  “I think you’ll also remember that I joined the Marines . . .” MJ started.

  “You what?” Gracie’s voice rose with surprise.

  “Second Lieutenant, being at ease is no excuse for being disrespectful,” her superior officer said.

  “Yes, sir,” Gracie said. “Sorry, sir.”

  “I joined the Marines just after being assigned,” MJ said. “I met Honey while on assignment after returning from basic training.”

  “Yes Sergeant,” the lieutenant colonel said.

  “I forgot a few things along the way,” MJ said.

  The lieutenant colonel nodded. She looked at Gracie. Her brown eyes seemed to penetrate her very soul. Gracie instinctively put her hand over her heart.

  “Second Lieutenant?” the lieutenant colonel said. “Would you like to tell us what this is about?”

  “I . . . um . . .”

  “From the beginning,” Captain Mac Clenaghan said. “That’s the best place to start.”

  Gracie’s eyes flicked to her superior officer. He gave her a look that reminded her to do what she was told. She nodded.

  “I met MJ at my brother’s funeral,” Gracie said. “He tried to save my brother when he . . . he . . .”

  Gracie cleared her throat.

  “Do you remember that?” Honey asked MJ.

  MJ shook his head.

  “That would be Ivy’s father,” Honey said and Gracie nodded. MJ shook his head.

  “Sergeant Scully has a traumatic brain injury,” Captain Mac Clenaghan said. “He has blank spots in his memory. I can assure you that if he says he doesn’t remember, he does not.”

  “I don’t know if that’s not worse.” Gracie looked at him.

  “I remember you,” MJ said. “I don’t remember your brother or his injury. How did he die?”

  “Sniper shot through the helmet,” Gracie said. “You kept him alive all the way to the field hospital and then . . .he . . .he di
dn’t make it.”

  “I’m sorry, Gracie,” MJ said.

  “Anyway, we dated for a while,” Gracie said. “We talked about getting a place together, but he was SF and I was a pilot. We spent leave together all over the world for about a year. Do you remember that?”

  MJ nodded.

  “We were supposed to meet in Greece,” Gracie said. “No phones, no computers, just the beach. I didn’t find out about your team until a month later. I thought you’d stood me up. You’d done it before. I figured you were freaked about settling down. Then I thought you were dead. Now, come to find out, you’re not dead, but you have settled down. You’re not dead. You’re settled down.”

  She gestured to Honey. MJ shook his head.

  “What happened?” Gracie asked.

  “As near as we can put together, his team hit an IED, probably some kind of land device,” Captain Mac Clenaghan said. “MJ helped save his teammates, but on a trip back to the Humvee, the second explosive blew. He placed a tourniquet on his own leg and went back to working on the rest of his team.”

  “You lost your leg?” Gracie looked horrified.

  MJ gestured to his calf.

  “After that, he was in Germany, and then at Walter Reed,” Captain Mac Clenaghan said. “During the time MJ was there, the wards were extremely overcrowded. A lot of things fell through the cracks. That may be why you weren’t notified.”

  “We had twelve guys in our room,” MJ said. “When I first got there, I couldn’t talk at all, so they let me be. I couldn’t tell anyone to call you, Gracie. With all the pain and trying to walk, and get another job and stuff, I forgot almost everything.”

  “After Walter Reed, he was placed in Mologne house,” Captain Mac Clenaghan said.

  “We recruited him from his hospital bed,” the lieutenant colonel said. “He’s been on active deployment since then.”

  “Honey, why are you here?” Captain Mac Clenaghan said.

  “MJ and I really like Ivy, Gracie’s niece,” Honey said. “I want to make sure we resolve this without a problem so MJ can keep his job and we still get to see Ivy.”

  “Why would MJ lose his job?” Gracie asked.

  “We are an elite intelligence team,” Captain Mac Clenaghan said. “This kind of interpersonal strain is disruptive to our work and leaves us open to security risk. We either work this out today, or MJ will be replaced.”

  “Sir,” MJ said. “May I say something?”

  Chapter Two Hundred and Forty-Four

  Your truth

  The lieutenant colonel nodded.

  “I wanted to say . . .” MJ cleared his throat. He glanced at Honey, and she smiled to encourage him. “I’m sorry, Gracie.”

  Gracie scowled at him.

  “I wasn’t a very good friend to you,” MJ said. “I’m sorry for it. You deserved a lot better. But I wasn’t . . .that.”

  “And I suppose you are now?” Gracie sneered.

  “I’ve changed a lot since we were together, Gracie,” MJ said. “I don’t treat people like I did. Not because of my job, but because I realized that people matter. I don’t have fighting relationships anymore—not with anyone. I even made up with my mom.”

  “Fighting relationship.” Gracie nodded. “That’s what we had.”

  MJ nodded.

  “You’re a great girl, Gracie. You probably think I’m just saying this because . . .” MJ gestured to the officers in front of them. “But you are. I’d like to be your friend now, if I could. Honey would too, I think.”

  Honey nodded.

  “You broke my heart,” Gracie said.

  “I did,” MJ said. “You’re right. I’m really very sorry. I was good at breaking hearts, took great pleasure in it. I don’t break hearts anymore.”

  “Why?” Gracie asked. “I get that you were injured and in the hospital. And I get that you didn’t remember us and everything. I understand that. I don’t get why or how you’re so different. I mean, you were never ever wanted to even be in the same room with Honey and now you have a baby and . . .”

  Gracie gestured to Honey.

  “And you’re nice, so nice,” Gracie said. “You made sure last night that I was taken care of and a part of the whole Hollywood thing. You even brought me a blanket so I wouldn’t be cold. You weren’t nice like that before.”

  MJ nodded.

  “What happened to you?” Gracie asked. “And what happened to Honey? Did you do that?”

  “I think that’s our cue.” The lieutenant colonel stood up. “Captain Handen, I believe I promised you a good cup of coffee.”

  “And a pastry,” Captain Handen followed her out of the room. “You promised pastry.”

  “That I did” the lieutenant colonel came around her desk. She touched Honey’s shoulder and winked at MJ before leading Gracie’s superior officer out of the room. “We have pastries—not Parisian, you understand. They are good, though.”

  They waited until the superior officers were gone.

  “What was that?” Gracie looked at MJ.

  “Second Lieutenant, this matter is not resolved,” Captain Mac Clenaghan said.

  “Yes, sir,” Gracie said and swallowed hard. She hadn’t realized that the Captain was the hard-ass in the room.

  “Sergeant Scully, I believe the Second Lieutenant asked you a question,” Captain Mac Clenaghan said.

  Gracie gave a partial smile. At least, he was a hard-ass to MJ, too.

  “I know death now,” MJ said. “That’s the easiest way to say it. Me, Honey, we both almost died; by all rights, we should be dead, both of us. I used to keep death over there some place.”

  He gestured to the far corner of the room.

  “Death was something I mocked, cheated, played with,” MJ said. “It was all just a game, one I wanted to win at all costs. Then, I was on assignment, and Honey got stabbed, and . . .”

  He glanced at Honey and she smiled.

  “She almost died on the kitchen floor,” MJ said. “And I realized that life isn’t a game that you ever win. And I realized that by not valuing death, I didn’t value my life or anybody else’s. I was playing a game with everything that mattered. At first, I just wanted her to live, and then . . .”

  MJ shrugged and looked at Honey.

  “She’s the love of your life,” Gracie nodded. “I always knew that. I guess I . . .”

  Gracie’s head went up and down as she worked through what he’d said.

  “You broke my heart,” Gracie’s eyes welled. “I . . . I thought you were dead.”

  “I’m sorry,” MJ said.

  “What do you need to make this right, Second Lieutenant?” Captain Mac Clenaghan asked.

  Looking down at the desk, Gracie crossed her arms across her heart and shook her head.

  “I understand that two years ago, you requested through your command a training day with the Jakker, then again last year, and again this year,” Captain Mac Clenaghan said. “I assume you’ll be putting the request in again in January?”

  Gracie looked up at him. Her hand flew to her throat. She glanced at MJ and he smirked.

  “Sergeant Scully has arranged for the Jakker to be available to you for the rest of the day,” Captain Mac Clenaghan said. “When you’ve finished here, you may begin.”

  The captain gave Gracie and MJ a nod and walked out of the room. Gracie turned to MJ.

  “Did you love me so much?” MJ asked. “Was I the love of your life?”

  “I . . .” Gracie shook her head.

  “What can we do to make this right with you?” Honey asked.

  “Spending the rest of the day with the Jakker?” Gracie smiled.

  Honey smiled.

  “How did you pull that off?” Gracie asked.

  “He flies the Fey,” MJ said. “You met his son last night. The kid with the great eyes and black hair, boyfriend of Noelle?”

  “Teddy.” Gracie nodded.

  “His son,” MJ said.

  Gracie looked down at the ground for a
moment. When she looked up, she gave MJ a long look. She glanced at Honey, and then back at MJ.

  “It’s different,” Gracie said. “Here. In country. People have kids. The Jakker has kids.”

  “Four,” Honey said.

  “Who knew?” Gracie asked. “It’s like my heroes are real people. You’re a real person, MJ—not a monster or a victim or a hero or anything. Just a person. It’s . . . different.”

  “War,” MJ said. “All you think about is your next mission. There’s a lot more to think about here.”

  Gracie nodded. She looked at MJ and then at Honey.

  “I’m kinda glad you found each other again,” Gracie nodded.

  MJ nodded.

  “Do you mind if I . . .” Gracie pointed to the door.

  MJ smiled and glanced at Honey.

  “He’s an asshole,” MJ said.

  “Rapist?” Gracie asked.

  “No,” MJ said. “Just an ass. The only person he’s nice to is the LC. She’s the only one who holds the end of his chain.”

  “He’s an amazing parent,” Honey said.

  Gracie nodded. She had the impatient look of a child waiting for permission to eat her special treat.

  “Go,” Honey said.

  Gracie looked at her. Her face broke into a smile and she ran out of the room. MJ looked at Honey and she smiled.

  “Good idea to ask Zack,” MJ said.

  “I thought so,” Honey said. “She’s happy. You?”

  MJ took her hand and they started toward the door.

  “I feel bad,” MJ said.

  “Sure,” Honey said.

  “But not that bad,” MJ said.

  “Sure,” Honey said.

  “Wanna get our baby and go home?” MJ asked.

  “Sure,” Honey said.

  He grinned at her, and they went to get Maggie.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Sunday morning—5:22 a.m.

  Jacob let the dogs out the front door of the farmhouse. He watched them wander, sniff around, and eventually settle into doing their business. Scooter came right back to him. Jacob rubbed the old dog’s ear and he looked up at Jacob. Scooter did not want to miss out on a chance to snuggle with Jill and Katy in bed.

  “I hear you, boy,” Jacob said.

  Jacob opened the door to let Scooter in the house. Scooter raced up the stairs. He heard Jill open the door to the room they were staying in and Katy giggle. He smiled and closed the front door. He put a leash on Sarah, his yellow Labrador, and Buster, the ugly dog. He started running on the dirt road that ran along the back of the property. Used to this morning activity, the dogs fell in beside him.